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Drew LeBlanc’s Comeback Lifts St. Cloud State Hockey

ST. CLOUD, Minn. — The St. Cloud State hockey players and coaches who were there grimly recount the gruesome details of Nov. 5, 2011, the night when Drew LeBlanc, the team captain, broke his left leg.

Late in the second period of a home game against Wisconsin, LeBlanc chased a puck that he dumped into the Badgers’ zone. His left skate caught a rut in the ice at the end boards while the rest of his body kept moving. Down he went. The awkward move fractured both bones in his lower leg, punctured the skin and left the leg dangling at a grotesque angle. Jared Festler, LeBlanc’s roommate, waved frantically for the trainer.

The scene reminded St. Cloud Coach Bob Motzko of the equally chilling fracture that Joe Theismann, a former Washington Redskins quarterback, sustained when he was tackled by Lawrence Taylor during a “Monday Night Football” game in 1985.

“I walked out on the ice, and you just knew it was bad,” Motzko said.

LeBlanc missed the rest of the season. Feeling he let down his teammates, LeBlanc applied for an N.C.A.A. medical redshirt rather than pursue a free-agent deal with an N.H.L. team. Also, LeBlanc needed to student-teach to finish his degree in mathematics education.

“I didn’t want to go out like that,” LeBlanc said. “I felt like I left my own senior class kind of high and dry. I didn’t want to do that to these guys.”

Playing with a metal rod in his leg, LeBlanc, a 6-foot, 195-pound center, ranked first in the nation with 30 assists and was sixth with 40 points heading into Saturday’s game against Colorado College. With LeBlanc, goaltender Ryan Faragher and defenseman Nick Jensen as the catalysts, the Huskies (18-12-1) rank eighth nationally and entered Saturday leading the Western Collegiate Hockey Association by a point over Nebraska-Omaha and Minnesota with five games to play.

Two weeks ago, LeBlanc helped St. Cloud knock off top-ranked Minnesota. His breakaway wrist shot on a third-period power play gave the Huskies a three-goal lead in a 4-3 victory, after St. Cloud lost to the Gophers, 4-2, the previous night. Minnesota dropped to No. 2. That meant plenty to Motzko, a former Minnesota assistant.

“Getting LeBlanc back as a fifth-year senior has really helped their team,” Minnesota Coach Don Lucia said. “They’ve got a very veteran defensive corps, a veteran goaltender, and their freshman forwards have really come in and scored at a great pace. I really like their team. They’re skilled, they’re balanced, and they can get up and down the rink and make plays.”

St. Cloud is usually not this good. Since joining the W.C.H.A. in 1990, the Huskies have never won the MacNaughton Cup as the regular-season champion. They won the conference tournament title once, in 2001, and though qualifying for eight N.C.A.A. tournaments, St. Cloud had never won a game until its last bid, in 2010.

Motzko says he doubts St. Cloud would have reached its lofty heights without LeBlanc. “I don’t think there’s any chance,” he said. “That’s what he’s meant to this team. He’s given us a chance to become an awful good hockey team.”

Photo

Drew LeBlanc, who broke his left leg in late 2011, put off the N.H.L. to lead St. Cloud State.Credit
Brace Hemmelgarn/St. Cloud State Athletic Media Relations

Mark Parrish, a former Islander who played at St. Cloud and is a Huskies television analyst, says he cannot understand why LeBlanc was not drafted. He believes LaBlanc already possesses the smarts and two-way skill to play in the N.H.L.

“His hockey I.Q. just blows me out of the water,” he said. “I guarantee you, this guy will not make as many rookie mistakes as I did.”

LeBlanc exhibited that savvy early this season. With the senior left wing Ben Hanowski out with an upper body injury, Motzko teamed LeBlanc with the freshman wings Kalle Kossila and Jonny Brodzinski, sensing chemistry among them. With LeBlanc, both surged among the top freshman scorers in the country. Brodzinski shifted to another line when Hanowski returned but remained productive; his 16 goals led the Huskies and ranked second nationally among freshmen heading into Saturday.

“Drew LeBlanc can make a freshman an elite player quickly,” Motzko said. “He makes everybody better. You just want to be on his line. He helped those freshmen fast-track their careers light-years because they’ve got such confidence now. “

LeBlanc’s return did not seem to surprise Motzko. After surgery, LeBlanc rolled himself into practice in a wheelchair. LeBlanc attended nearly every practice, sometimes pulling an exercise bike alongside the ice and riding it while his teammates skated.

“He was by their side,” Motzko said. “We weren’t by his; he was by ours.”

LeBlanc said: “They’re my friends. I still wanted to be a part of the team. I couldn’t do much, give pointers and stuff, but I felt like I should be here.”

Had the injury occurred late in the season, Motzko is convinced LeBlanc would have bolted for the N.H.L. The Chicago Blackhawks, who offered him a contract after his junior year, remain interested, Last summer, LeBlanc skated at a Minnesota Wild prospects camp.

“The fact that he had to sit out, I think it tore him up about what he missed,” Motzko said.

Clearly, LeBlanc is enjoying himself. The son of a high school math teacher, LeBlanc student-teaches at nearby St. Cloud Apollo High School most days before heading to practice, preparing for his postcareer goal of teaching math and coaching hockey.

That is why Le Blanc could not join six teammates in a yearlong pledge to grow their hair for Locks of Love, an organization that supplies wigs for cancer patients. Forward Nic Dowd’s hair grew in so thick and curly that he switched to a larger helmet.

“I felt like since I’m going into the teaching profession, I’ve got to look a little professional,” LeBlanc said. “So I didn’t get to be part of that elite group. But it’s a great thing they’re doing.”

Like what LeBlanc has done on the ice, for all of them.

A version of this article appears in print on February 24, 2013, on page SP7 of the New York edition with the headline: A Gruesome Injury, A Stirring Comeback . Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe